Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

MOSCOW, June 27./ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko supports continued sanctions on Russia, though he said quite the opposite in an interview with US news TV channel CNN for the world audience.

“I hate the idea to bring the sanctions as the punishment for Russia,” he said in the interview with CNN on Thursday.

Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb had a meeting with Poroshenko on Friday morning upon arrival in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, for the EU summit. “He calls for continuation of active pressure on Russia,” Stubb said.

Meanwhile, the Finnish premier noted that the Ukrainian president emphasised importance “of preserving a positive impetus which is related with the dialogue between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.”

Poroshenko noted again in the interview with CNN that Kiev and Moscow should restore trust-based relations. “Russia is our long-term neighbour and to talk about long-term prospective of security would be simply impossible without Russia,” he said.